Steve Coogan is to star as Mick McCarthy, the former Republic of Ireland manager with whom then-Manchester United captain Roy Keane had an infamous falling out ahead of the Japan World Cup in 2002.
Saipan is helmed by Glenn Leyburn and Lisa Barros D’Sa — the pair behind the critically-lauded 2013 Irish comedy-drama Good Vibrations and 2019 romance Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville — with a script from Dead Man’s Shoes scribe Paul Fraser, and production set to start this summer.
The film’s title comes from the ‘Saipan Incident’ of 2002, when Keane was captaining his national side ahead of the FIFA World Cup finals in Japan. While preparing on the tiny US Pacific territory of Saipan Island, Keane had a very public fall out with McCarthy over the manager’s training conditions, strategy, travel arrangements, diet and general competence.
The famously combative midfielder ultimately launched into an angry tirade against McCarthy in front of his teammates, reportedly telling him to “stick your World Cup up your arse” before flying back to Ireland. Keane didn’t play for his country again until 2004, after McCarthy had stepped down as manager.
Up-and-coming Irish BAFTA-nomineer Éanna Hardwicke (The Sixth Commandment, Lakelands) will play Keane, while Macdara Kelleher and John Keville produce for Wild Atlantic Pictures (Evil Dead Rise, Cocaine Bear) along with Trevor Birney and Oliver Butler for Fine Point Films (“Kneecap,” “Bobby Sands: 66 Days”), with Patrick O’Neill, Eoin Egan and Rachael O’Kane as executive producers.
Wildcard and Vertigo Releasing have acquired U.K. and Ireland rights for the film, and are scheduling a summer 2025 cinema release. Bankside Films have picked up worldwide sales, with Stephen Kelliher and Sophie Green as executive producers there.
Saipan is supported by Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen, with a shoot set for Ireland and Saipan. Greg Martin is executive producer for Screen Ireland, and Ursula Devine executive producer for Northern Ireland Screen.
